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NZ is first step in AFL's overseas dream

Sam Lienert

The AFL's first overseas premiership-season game is just a stepping stone towards their long-term international dreams.

AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan says the league will take the sport wherever it can, with Thursday night's Anzac Day clash between St Kilda and Sydney in Wellington the ideal starting point.

"We're about growing our great game and taking our story to as many places as we can," McLachlan told reporters in Wellington.

"We'll take any opportunity we can to take our game and give the opportunity for young children to play and for people to see and participate in our game.

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"It's an important stepping stone."

McLachlan said a NZ-based team was a long-term dream and there were also potential opportunities to take matches elsewhere around the globe.

Both he and Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said on Wednesday night the first game in NZ could already be declared a success in terms of media and public interest and economic impact.

"It's already really clear that it's going to be a great success," Wade-Brown told an AFL welcoming function.

"The hotels are full. I'm sure the bars, cafes and restaurants are doing a fine trade."

McLachlan said the sport already had more than 30,000 participants in NZ but Thursday night's game, which is set to attract more than 20,000 spectators, including 4500-plus Australian tourists, would be "the pinnacle of the journey so far".

"It feels that the heavy lifting's been worthwhile," he said.

He said the next task was to keep New Zealanders hooked beyond the initial novelty factor, with the Saints to host two games per season in Wellington from next year onwards, including an annual Anzac Day fixture.

McLachlan said the AFL would continue to put strong clubs up against the Saints in Wellington to maximise drawing power and seek new ways to harness the shared Anzac Day significance.

"The first (game) always has that 'Let's go and have a look' factor," McLachlan said.

"But we have huge confidence that when people go and see our game live that that only whets the appetite.

"We think we can develop people's passions and interests in our game.

"We also think we can develop the Anzac story and, as we look towards the centenary in 2015, I really think that's a great horizon to have a look at.

"I know the Wellington City Council have already got extraordinary ambitions on what they might do in a couple of years' time."